Kashish: Why a film festival on water? What was happening around you at the time you decided to start this festival?

Georgekutty: By 2004, the biggest anti-dam movement in India –if not across the world – had reached its climax. Also the period witnessed the biggest anti Coco Cola movement in Plachimada, Kerala because of the water pollution and scarcity the Coco Cola bottling plant created there. There was strong opposition to the privatization of water by the government of India.

These movements received further impetus with the findings of Centre for Science and Environment, New Delhi that the soft drinks produced by Coco Cola Company contained chemicals far beyond permissible limits. Many state governments and educational institutions banned the sale...

Kashish: Why a film festival on water? What was happening around you at the time you decided to start this festival?

Georgekutty: By 2004, the biggest anti-dam movement in India –if not across the world – had reached its climax. Also the period witnessed the biggest anti Coco Cola movement in Plachimada, Kerala because of the water pollution and scarcity the Coco Cola bottling plant created there. There was strong opposition to the privatization of water by the government of India.

These movements received further impetus with the findings of Centre for Science and Environment, New Delhi that the soft drinks produced by Coco Cola Company contained chemicals far beyond permissible limits. Many state governments and educational institutions banned the sale...